Motherly Duties
by The Brown Eyed Writer
Summary: While Edward and Bella are on their honeymoon, Esme looks back on Edward and Bella's relationship and how she showed Edward he deserves Bella's love. Missing moment in Breaking Dawn  BD  EXB Fluff R&R One-Shot


**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters, unfortunately. :(**

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><p>ESPOV<p>

I was home alone today. Carlisle was at work, Rosalie and Alice were in Port Angeles shopping, Emmett and Jasper were hunting, and Edward and Bella were on their honeymoon.

I had decided to clean the house some by dusting and mopping and doing laundry. I was currently putting everyone's clean clothes in their rooms for them to get later. I made my rounds to each couples' room, laying the clothes out neatly on their beds. I headed up to Edward and Bella's room, only having Edward's clothes to put away.

The door opened with a creak, and I halfway expected to find Edward laying with Bella on the grand bed he bought. The bed was made for a princess, which is what Bella was to Edward, his princess. My heart dropped when I found the bed empty and vacant, remembering they were still on their honeymoon.

The room was cluttered with boxes filled with Bella's belongings she had brought over from Charlie's a week before the wedding. I smiled remembering the day she brought her stuff over.

"_Bella, please let me get that for you," I heard my youngest son's voice from the foyer._

"_Edward," I heard Bella sigh, annoyance in her voice, "I can get my own things. It's one box, it's not going to flatten me." _

"_With your luck, that's a possibility," I heard Edward say._

_I had to chuckle at their banter. I followed their voices to find them heading for the stairs. Edward had three boxes in his hands and Bella had one._

"_Hey, Esme," Bella smiled at me when she saw me._

"_Hi, sweetie. May I ask what you two are up to?" I asked._

"_We're moving Bella's stuff into my room to go ahead and get it out of the way before the wedding," Edward answered._

"_Need any help?" I asked._

"_We wouldn't want to bother you, Esme," Bella said selflessly. This girl was so selfless._

"_Nonsense," I said walking out to Edward's car._

_I grabbed two boxes and headed for the house. I heard small murmurs coming from Edward's room, so I quieted my footsteps as I came closer to his room._

_I found Bella sitting on the edge of the bed with Edward down at her feet, looking at her left foot. He held it so delicately in his hands, you would think he was holding a rose petal._

"_I told you so," Edward said playfully._

_Bella glared at him._

"_You're mean," she pouted._

_I saw something I had never seen before from Edward. The playful side of him was gone. It was replaced with a look of pure love and fascination. He was wrapped around Bella's little finger._

"_I'm sorry, love," he said._

_She smiled down at him, love filling her eyes._

"_It's alright," she murmured._

_They stared at each other for a few minutes with love filled eyes, making me feel like I was intruding on a private moment. _

"_So am I going to be okay for the wedding, Dr. Cullen?" Bella asked with a teasing tone, breaking the silence. She had a blush on her cheeks as she looked down at her foot._

"_It should be fine, Miss Swan. Just don't put too much pressure on it for the next couple of days. I think you just stepped on it wrong," he said._

"_Maybe if you kiss it, it'll make it better," she said with a smirk on her face._

_Edward laughed, a true laugh I've never heard from him before, and leaned down and kissed the top of Bella's foot delicately. I saw Bella visibly shiver._

"_My lips are hurting, too," she said when he turned back to her._

"_What kind of fiancé would I be if I let my soon to be wife suffer?" he teased back._

_Then he took her in his arms and carefully kissed her, boxes forgotten. I dropped the two boxes I was carrying off at the door and walked back down to the kitchen._

The protectiveness Edward always gives off around Bella amazes me. I could see in his eyes that he would jump in front of a bullet for that girl. I know the feeling, I would do the same for Carlisle.

I lay Edward's clothes on the bed, looking around the room not wanting to leave so soon. I go over to one of Bella's boxes that was filled with pictures. There were dozens in picture frames, some of them loose, some in a few scrapbooks. There was one scrapbook that caught my eye. It had a title, unlike the others. "My Everything" was written across the front in Bella's handwriting.

Curiously, I flipped through the first couple of pages to find it filled with nothing but her and Edward. I decided to look through it, knowing it would occupy me for some time, considering it was pretty thick.

The first page was a picture I recognized, being the person who took it. It was a picture of Edward and Bella the first time he brought her home. It was their first picture together. They were sitting at Edward's piano, Edward was playing and Bella had her head on his shoulder. It was the first time he played her lullaby for her.

I remember the first time I heard about Bella. It was the day Edward had run away to Denali. Alice and the others had come home without Edward that day. I remember at first being confused, but when I learned that he had run away because of some girl, I loathed her. She made my son run away from me and his family. I almost wanted to go kill her myself, but now when I think about it, I hate myself for ever wanting to hurt her.

The day Edward first played her lullaby, I was so shocked that he had composed something new, it took me a minute to ask what inspired him. His answer shocked me, also.

_I was doing some small work around the house, tidying it. The girl who was causing my family trouble was on my mind. I didn't want her to get hurt, even though at one time I wanted to kill her myself. But I know I had thought that in a rational manner. I was just angry at the time, but now I don't want an innocent girl to get hurt just because she was a little curious about my family, mostly Edward._

_I heard Edward come down the stairs and I was expecting him to leave and go to his secret place he usually goes to. I heard him pause in the hallway and grew curious. I stayed where I was and listened to him closely. He started walking again before he stopped and I heard a creak as he sat down. My dead heart leapt as I realized he was at the piano. The last time he played was twenty years ago when he wrote my song. I was shocked he was playing again. I've asked him to play for me a couple of times, but he always claimed he wasn't in the playing mood, so I left him alone about it. _

_I heard him sit there for a few minutes before he hesitantly hit a note. It echoed through the house and everyone stopped what they were doing. I knew what they were all thinking, the same thing I was thinking, and I didn't have to be a mind reader to know that. Edward was playing again._

_Soon, the shy note turned into a beautiful piece unlike all the others he has composed. His other pieces were filled with darkness and gloominess, a depressing tone in each and every one of them. The one he wrote for me had a lightful tone to it, but this piece he was currently playing topped it. It topped them all._

_It was gentle and soft with a….loving tone? If all my feelings towards Carlisle could be put into a song, this would be it except it was so much stronger. I could feel all the emotions in this piece that I felt towards Carlisle. Not only did it have loving feelings in it, but it also had a terrified streak in it, as if he was scared of something. But it remained soft, like a lullaby._

_I walked to the piano room and stood in the doorway, watching my youngest son play something so out of character for him. His fingers tapped over the keys delicately but passionately. I watched him close his eyes, a smile on his face. Something I've never seen from him._

_When the beautiful song ended, I pushed myself off the doorway and walked over to stand behind Edward._

"_That was beautiful," I said, sitting next to him._

_He turned to me and smiled._

"_Thanks, Mom," he said._

_He turned his attention back to the top of the piano. I turned to see what had his attention. There sitting on top of the piano was a plastic bottle cap. I was confused. What did a bottle cap have to do with what he just played?_

_Edward chuckled at my last thought, putting the bottle cap back in his pocket._

"_May I ask who inspired that piece you just played?" I asked wanting to know who had captured my son's attention._

_Edward got this far off look in his eyes, the same smile overtaking his face that had been on previously while he was playing. Now I was curious._

"_Bella," was all he said._

_Oh, so the girl who this family was fussing over about. _

"_Yes, her," Edward said with a laugh._

_I noticed something in his laugh, something I've never heard before. The laughs I was use to when coming from Edward were always lifeless. But this one, it was so full of life. My son was happy. Genuinely happy. And it was all because of a human girl._

_Edward's smile disappeared then._

"_What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly missing his joyful mood._

"_She's human. I'm too dangerous for her. She should stay away from me and find someone else. Someone who she won't be at risk with," he said._

_I was appalled. Did he really believe he didn't deserve a chance at love? I remember my first feelings towards this Bella girl, how I hated her for taking my son away from me. Now, all I wanted to do was hug her and thank her for making my son so happy for once in his life. I didn't care if she was human. If she made him so happy, I would accept her if she had three eyes._

_Edward laughed at my last thought._

"_Edward, everyone deserves a chance at love. Please don't deny yourself that chance. If Bella truly is a girl who deserves your love, she'll take you as you are. She'll love you for who you are," I said._

"_I can't risk her life for my happiness, Esme. I would hate myself forever if something happened to her because of me. I can't take the risk."_

"_Edward, in my eighty years of life, there's something I've learned. Love is about risks that we must take sometimes. Not because we want to but because we have to. You've known this girl for what, two months? I remember at Christmas, you went hunting off on your own and wouldn't even be around us. I've been watching you over the years, Edward. I was getting worried about you. Each year, you seem to get lonelier and sadder. But now, this girl has changed you so much. You're happier and your mood is lighter, something I've never seen from you before. Do you know how happy it makes me to see you happy? All I ever want for you is to feel the love of your soul mate. This is your chance, please take it. I promise you won't regret it."_

"_But what happens when she's older and decides she wants children. I can't give her that."_

"_That's something you two will have to solve together. No relationship is perfect. It won't be easy, but true love is never easy. Edward, if she is enough to deserve your love, I know she must be a special girl." _

"_She is," he said with a smile on his face. "But I'm not enough to deserve her love. I don't deserve her."_

"_That's not true. Edward, you are so selfless. You're the best son any mother could ask for."_

_I heard a muted "Hey!" from Emmett upstairs, but I ignored him._

"_I think you're exaggerating," he said playfully._

"_Nope. I'm serious, Edward. You deserve love."_

_He sighed before standing up. He kissed my cheek before heading up to his room. I watched him go before turning back to his piano. Hiding behind Clair De Lune, was a written composition. At the top, written in Edward's perfect calligraphy was "Bella's Lullaby." I smiled and picked it up and headed upstairs._

_I wrote a small note on the back before shoving it under Edward's door. As I walked away, I could hear him pick it up and flip over the paper to read what I had wrote._

"_You deserve her love, trust me."_

I smiled to myself, flipping through the next couple of pages. It was mostly ones of Bella and Edward lying together, some of them in the backyard playing. There was one with Bella on Edward's back, both of them laughing joyfully. Bella had a such a tight grip on Edward's neck, I knew it would choke a human. They were running from Emmett who was spraying them down with a water gun. I smiled to myself, seeing the love in both of their eyes and flipped to another page.

I came upon a picture from Bella's eighteenth birthday party. I grimaced, knowing that was a dark time for everyone. It was when we left my newest daughter. I remember how it tore Edward apart so much, he couldn't be around us anymore.

_We all sat in the Denali's house, waiting for Edward to get here. Thankfully, Tanya had let us stay with them for a few days until we could get our old house restored._

_We had been here for a few days without any sign of Edward. Had he changed his mind? I asked myself this each day he didn't show up. The last of my hope was stomped on when Edward showed up the third day we had left Forks behind, along with our newest family member._

_It was night when he showed up. I could feel the pain radiating off of him in waves. Jasper grabbed his chest in pain and had to excuse himself. Alice sat on the couch, glaring at Edward's figure as he grew closer. Emmett just sat down, a straight line on his face that looked like it would never leave. Rosalie glared at Edward also, halfway blaming him for Emmett's sadness, another part for leaving Bella. She may never admit it, but deep down, she cared for Bella as a sister. Carlisle wasn't smiling either, and I could feel the pain of losing his newest daughter._

_Edward walked through the door, stopping to stare at us all. The look on his face would haunt me forever. He looked lifeless, much like he was before he met Bella, except it was a thousand times worse. He looked so heartbroken, I just wanted to take him in my arms and comfort him._

_Before anyone could react, Alice jumped up and screamed in his face._

"_You asshole! Do you know what you just did! You've caused everyone pain, more importantly, you've caused pain to Bella! She's never going to be the same after this. Do you know what I see a year from now, Edward? I see her lifeless. She's not going to move on, Edward. You were it for her. Do you understand how much you meant to her? How much she loves you? No, you don't because once again, you've decided to act on your selfish acts. You've taken away my only best friend I've ever had. You've taken away the one thing that made this family complete. I hate you. You thought you were a monster before? No, you're a monster now. I hate you!" Alice started hitting his chest, repeating "I hate you," over and over to him._

_Edward just stood there and took it, an emotionless look on his face. Carlisle jumped up and took Alice in his arms as she broke down sobbing. Edward watched them before spinning on his foot and running out the door. He didn't get too far before he broke down and started sobbing._

_I ran out of the house, running to my youngest son. When I found him, it broke my dead heart._

_He was balling his hands in his hair, almost pulling it out. He was curled into a ball, one hand on his chest, clenching at his heart._

_I swiftly took him in my arms and he sobbed in my chest. I rocked him gently, letting him cry himself out. The sun came up and went down, but Edward continued to cry. I stayed with him on the forest floor the entire time. No one had dared to come out and check on us, and I was thankful. I needed this time with my son._

_Finally, it was midnight on the second day when he stopped sobbing. He was silent, and just stayed in my arms._

"_I never wanted to hurt anyone," I heard him whisper._

"_I know," I said softly._

"_I love her. I had to let her go. She deserves someone so much better than me. She deserves a human life, something I can't give her if she stays with me," he said._

"_I know, Edward. But do you think, that if she truly loves you, she'll move on? I wouldn't if Carlisle left me."_

"_She's human. She'll forget about me. She'll get over me," it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince me._

"_I've seen the way you two look at each other. It's true love. I don't think she will get over you, Edward. Remember how I said no relationship is perfect?" _

_He nodded._

"_Well, yours is no exception. There's going to be times when things happen. But that's how relationships work."_

"_But one day something bad will happen and I wouldn't be able to live with myself."_

"_You won't hurt her, Edward. The thing with Jasper was avoided. There were six of us, Edward. Do you think we would have let him get to her?"_

"_He almost did. I can't take that risk again. Not for my happiness. Her happiness comes before mine."_

"_Edward, I believe fate works in crazy ways. I believe you were put in her life to be her protector. Imagine it this way. Even if you hadn't been put in her life, do you think she still wouldn't have attracted trouble. The poor girl is a danger magnet. We both know she would have gotten herself into some sort of trouble. But the problem would have been that you wouldn't have been there to protect her. Who knows where she would be if you had not protected her from those men in Port Angeles or the van that almost hit her."_

"_She lived seventeen years without me and she was fine. It wasn't until she met me that she started attracting trouble."_

"_But you were always there to protect her," I pointed out._

_He stayed silent for a minute._

"_She has to move on. I'm no good for her," he said._

_I sighed. He was so stubborn._

"_Edward, please think this through a little more. I don't think you will live very long without her. Alice has seen it. She's seen you going back to her some point in your life. You may think that you can let her move on and not be in her life, but love doesn't allow that. I'm betting on Alice," I said simply._

"_I can't go back, Mom. I won't go back. Her well being and happiness comes before mine. You tell Alice that," he said standing up and turning his back on me._

"_Where are you going?" I asked, standing up._

_He turned his head slightly and looked at me out the corner of his eye._

"_I can't stay here. I need to have a little time on my own," he said._

_I gasped. I had already lost a daughter. Now I had to lose him too?_

"_When will you come back?" I asked._

_He was silent for a minute, and I didn't think he would answer me at first._

"_I don't know," he said quietly._

_Then he was gone with the blink of an eye. I could have chased after him, but I knew that would only make him stay away longer. I stayed in the same place for a few hours, before turning around and going back inside. Carlisle was waiting and took me in his arms immediately as I started breaking down._

I was glad when Edward and Bella found each other again. I knew they would. Either fate would have brought them back together, or Edward would have broken down and gone back. I believe it was fate.

I flipped through the rest of the book, taking my time to take in each detail on each picture. Something I noticed in each picture was that both of them held the same amount of love in their eyes for the other. Their love was the strongest thing I've seen since mine and Carlisle's love.

The day Edward told me Bella agreed to marry him, I swear I was happier than he was. I could see the happiness and contentment flowing off of him. He was practically glowing. I knew he was excited to finally call Bella his wife.

The day of the wedding, he was fidgety before the ceremony. Of course, him being like my son, I had to go comfort his worries.

"_I'll see you in our seats," I told Carlisle._

_He smiled, kissing my cheek, and nodding. I headed into mine and Carlisle's room where Edward was getting ready. Alice had been strict on keeping tradition, so she made Edward get ready down in our room since she was getting Bella ready upstairs._

_The door was cracked open, so I tapped lightly as I opened it more. Edward was looking in our full body mirror, trying to tie his tie. I was a little worried because usually Edward could always tie his tie. He met my eyes in the mirror and dropped his hands to his side._

"_Mom, I need your help," he said._

_I smiled a comforting smile at him and walked over to him. I reached up and tied his tie, smoothing it out when I was finished._

"_Now, what's got you so shaky?" I asked, looking at his hands that were in fact, shaking._

_He took a deep breath, running his hands though his hair._

"_I'm scared," he whispered._

"_About what, darling?" I asked._

_He looked away from me and over my head. Now I was truly worried._

"_I'm scared she's going to realize what she's doing and leave me," he said so quietly, I almost didn't hear him._

_I gasped. He was worried about this? _

"_Honey, you should know Bella better than that. She wouldn't leave you. She's known what she was getting herself into the day she told you she loved you. She loves you, everyone can see it. Both of you love each other so much."_

"_Mom, she never wanted to get married. I had to ask her a million times to marry me before she finally said yes."_

"_But she did say yes. Honey, the first time you asked her, she wasn't ready. She wasn't ready until she agreed. She didn't tell you no the first couple of times because she didn't love you. She told you no because she was scared. That girl loves you, Edward. What scared her the most was that you would marry her, then fifty years from now, you'll get tired of her and leave her. That's her greatest fear of all. She can face the Volturi or any other vampire out there. She can face never seeing her friends or family again. But the one thing she can't face is you leaving her or not loving her."_

"_I will never leaver her again. She's my life."_

"_I know that, honey. And so does Bella. That's why we're here today. She trusts you with her heart, just as you trust her with yours. She's not going to leave you. She couldn't dream of it."_

"_Mom?" _

"_Yes?"_

_He stumbled over his words for a minute before taking a deep breath and speaking more clearly._

"_Thank you." _

"_For what?"_

"_If it wasn't for you, I never would have allowed myself to be loved by Bella. You were right. Our relationship isn't perfect, but I wouldn't change any of it."_

_I stayed silent and smiled at him, before enveloping him in my arms. He wrapped his arms around my waist as mine went to his neck. He laid his head on my shoulder and held me close to him._

"_I've dreamed of the day that my youngest son would finally get married."_

"_Thank you, Mom. Thank you for showing me I deserve to be loved by Bella."_

_I pulled back and planted a kiss on his forehead. _

"_I'm so proud of you," I said, rubbing my thumbs on his cheeks._

"_I love you, Mom," he said._

"_I love you, too, my darling son."_

_He leaned in and kissed my cheek._

"_Now, how about we go get you married now," I said._

_He grew nervous again, smoothing out his clothes. I took his hands in mine._

"_You look perfect. Perfectly handsome," I said._

"_Handsome enough for Bella?" he asked._

"_You've always been handsome enough for Bella," I said with a smile. He smiled back and we walked out where the rest of the guests were. Edward took his place at the end of aisle and I sat next to Carlisle._

_When Bella came down the aisle, everyone was looking at her, but I was looking at my son. I watched as he laid eyes on Bella and the nervousness vanished, which was replaced by utter happiness and love._

I smiled to myself as I looked at the last page. The picture was from their wedding that Bella had put in before she and Edward left for their honeymoon. Like all of the others, the love and happiness was shining in their eyes as they looked at each other.

I closed the scrapbook and put it back where it belonged before heading downstairs. I walked straight to the phone, debating whether I should call them or not. I decided that a check up wouldn't be too back, considering I hadn't heard from them in almost a week.

I typed the familiar numbers and waited for him to pick up. On the third ring, he picked up.

"Hi, Mom," he whispered into the receiver. I looked at the clock. It was midnight over there so Bella would be asleep right now.

"Hey, honey. I was just calling to check up on things. How are you two? Are you enjoying the island? Does Bella like it?" I couldn't help all the questions that flowed from my mouth.

He chuckled on the other end.

"Yes, we're enjoying it. Bella loves it here. Thank you for lending it to us," he said.

"You're welcome, honey. I was just checking on you. I'll let you get back to your honeymoon," I said, fixing to hang up.

"Hey, Mom?" he stopped me.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Thank you, again. I'd never thought I could be loved the way Bella loves me and I certainly never thought I could love someone as much as I love Bella," he said.

I smiled.

"I told you everyone deserves to be loved," I said with a smile in my voice.

"Yeah," he sounded distant, "I know that now."

"I'll let you go now. Go on back to Bella," I said.

"I love you, Mom," he said.

"I love you, too, honey," I said back.

With that, we hung up.

I smiled to myself as my other children and husband drove up. My family was finally complete and as soon as Bella and Edward were back, Bella would be changed. Then we would continue to be a family forever. And Edward would always have Bella forever and vise versa. I did believe everyone deserved love, even Edward. And it is my motherly duty that he knows that forever.

**The End**


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